A Response to "God Couldn't Forgive My Sin" Whenever I hear someone say something like, "God couldn't forgive my sin," I'm reminded of the profound truth that our understanding of forgiveness is directly tied to our understanding of God Himself. As we open God's Word together, I want to address this with biblical clarity and theological precision, because what you believe about God's forgiveness reveals what you truly believe about the character and work of God. The Holiness of God and the Reality of Sin We must begin with a proper understanding of who God is. Scripture reveals God as utterly holy. Isaiah 6:3 proclaims, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" This three-fold repetition in Hebrews represents the superlative—God is not merely holy, He is the holiest, supremely set apart in His perfection. This holy God created us in His image to reflect His glory, but sin has corrupted that image. Sin isn't merely making mistakes or breaking arbitrary rules. Sin is nothing less than rebellious treason against our Creator. It is a direct assault on God's holiness and authority. Romans 3:23 states plainly, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." This isn't just some people or most people—it's all people. You and me included. When we truly grasp the holiness of God alongside the reality of our sin, we begin to understand the gravity of our situation. Our sin isn't merely a problem—it's an insurmountable catastrophe that places us under divine judgment and subject to the wrath of God. As Romans 6:23 declares, "The wages of sin is death." This death isn't simply physical death but spiritual death—eternal separation from God. Eternity in torment in a real place called hell. If we were left to ourselves, we would indeed be hopeless, for no human effort, regardless of how sincere or extensive, could ever bridge the infinite chasm between our sinfulness and God's holiness. The Justice of God Cannot Be Compromised Someone’s concern that God "couldn't forgive" their sin actually points to a profound theological truth. A holy God cannot simply overlook sin. His justice demands satisfaction. To simply pardon sin without addressing its penalty would violate God's own nature and make Him unjust. As Exodus 34:7 reminds us, God "will by no means clear the guilty." Nahum 1:3 declares, "The LORD will by no means clear the guilty." God's justice is not optional—it is essential to His character. This is precisely why cheap grace is a theological impossibility. God cannot simply wink at sin or sweep it under the rug. Every sin must be accounted for. Every transgression must be paid for. The justice of God demands it. If God were to simply forgive without satisfaction of His justice, He would compromise His own character. He would cease to be fully God. And a God who could cease to be God is no God at all. The Cross: Divine Justice and Mercy Meet Here we arrive at the glorious truth of the gospel. The seemingly irreconcilable tension between God's holiness and our sin, between His justice and His mercy, finds its resolution at one place in human history: the cross of Jesus Christ. At Calvary, we see both the justice and love of God on full display. There, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, fully God and fully man, became our substitute. The sinless One became sin for us. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 declares, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Christ became the propitiation for our sins. The word "propitiation" means the satisfaction of God's righteous wrath. At the cross, God's justice was not compromised—it was fully satisfied. The debt was paid. The penalty was absorbed. The wrath was endured. Not by us, but by Christ on our behalf. Romans 3:25-26 makes this clear: "God presented Christ as a propitiation through faith in his blood, to demonstrate his righteousness...